The Year of the Brave

Innocence, your history of silence
Won’t do you any good
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave

(from Brave, Sara Bareilles)

I don't usually make a big to do about new year's resolutions. I think about a few things that I may want to do differently during the new year, I keep them to myself, and I try as best as I can to accomplish them. Usually I do not, but I celebrate whatever portion of that goal I did meet.

This New Year's Eve, as I watched the Times Square Ball Drop on television with my husband and my daughters, there seemed to be a thread of courageous or accomplished women. First, there was segment on the 30 Greatest Women in Music, and of course there was Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor being chosen to trigger the ball drop itself.

Most impacting for me, though, was a particular commercial that aired several times during the program. It presented various women throughout history who have been incredibly courageous and have had a very positive presence in the world. Each of these women was shown speaking publicly, as Sara Bareilles' song Brave played in the background.

I was moved by the ad each and every time that I watched it. It was as though someone was looking straight at me and telling me, "I'm talking to you. This will be your year to be brave."

To be courageous is magnificently frightening, but to watch the women on that ad was also inspiring. There are things that I feel I must do this year that will require and enormous amount of courage. I am scared out of my mind and my knees may buckle at times, but I hope that I will be able to inhale deeply, stand tall and be brave.